Brain Tumor Grading

Brain Tumor Grading

A neuropathologist, in collaboration with your neuro-oncologist and neurosurgeon, will examine your biopsy sample to determine the exact type of brain tumor you have, whether the tumor is benign or malignant and how serious it is (its grade).

Staging is the term oncologists use to define where cancer is located and how much it has spread. A staging system is used for most other types of cancer, but for tumors of the brain grading is often of greater importance. This is because most primary brain tumors do not spread beyond the central nervous system.

Northwestern Medicine uses a grading system developed by the World Health Organization. This helps them determine how to best treat brain tumors. Grading refers to how abnormal brain tumor cells look compared to healthy cells. The grade also gives your physician an idea of how the tumor may behave. Results obtained from looking at a brain tumor tissue sample from a molecular level can provide even more information about the tumor, including how aggressive the tumor may be.

*Normally treated with surgery alone.